SCIL wafer scale direct nanoimprint for nanophotonic components and fast optical quality inspection with single nm resolution

Abstract

Substrate Conformal Imprint Lithography (SCIL) solves the limitations of PDMS soft-stamp based NIL techniques (resolution, pattern deformation, overlay) and allows low-pressure wafer scale conformal contact and sub-10 nm resolution using a novel silicone rubber stamp. SCIL demonstrated direct replication of sub-50nm patterns in silica over 200mm wafers with stamp lifetimes over 500 imprints. The evaluation of patterns on wafer scale is usually done by SEM or AFM, and not amendable to inline inspection. We will demonstrate a novel compact optical quality inspection method for nanophotonic components, based on Fourier microscopy (imaging the back-focal plane of objective lens). In combination with inverse modeling, we reach few-nanometer precision for periodic structures.